A senior figure from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has met top Russian officials and called for the reopening of the Nord Stream pipeline, challenging Berlin’s stance on Moscow amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD’s parliamentary foreign policy spokesperson and a Bundestag lawmaker, attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), where he held talks with senior figures in Russia’s energy and investment establishment despite warnings from Germany’s foreign ministry.
Frohnmaier said he met Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Kirill Dmitriev, a senior adviser on investment and economic cooperation to President Vladimir Putin, according to Interfax news agency. Both Miller and Dmitrie are subject to Western sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. The state-owned energy giant Gazprom confirmed the meeting.
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Discussions reportedly centred on energy security and the possible resumption of Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline, which was severely damaged in the 2022 sabotage attacks on infrastructure linking Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Frohnmaier argued that Germany is facing an “economic downward spiral” driven by high energy costs, insisting that “all options must be put back on the table,” including restoring gas flows and broader trade normalisation with Russia.
